Trip from Washington to New York will get Angels on track

Rob Carr / Getty Images

Reliever Joe Smith delivers a pitch during an Angels win over the Washington Nationals on Monday. Smith is looking forward to taking a train from Washington to New York for the team's weekend series against the Yankees.

Reliever Joe Smith delivers a pitch during an Angels win over the Washington Nationals on Monday. Smith is looking forward to taking a train from Washington to New York for the team's weekend series against the Yankees. (Rob Carr / Getty Images)

Mike DiGiovanna

WASHINGTON — The Angels won’t be traveling back in time Wednesday night, but it might feel that way. Instead of flying to New York after their game against the Washington Nationals, they will board a chartered Amtrak train in the nation’s capital and ride the rails to Penn Station.

“I’m excited, man,” reliever Joe Smith said. “It’s like the movie ‘The Natural,’ when everybody was taking the train. It’s one of those forgotten things. I know the stories the older guys tell me, and they say it’s a lot of fun. It’s something different from getting on a plane. I’m looking forward to it.”

Teams often move by bus or train between cities in the Northeast, but the Angels haven’t had many opportunities to do so. The last time they chartered a train was in 2008, when they traveled from Philadelphia to Washington during interleague play.

With the Angels having an off day Thursday before beginning a series in Yankee Stadium on Friday night, Smith said he didn’t expect many players to sleep on the train. The experience could also be good for team-bonding.

“Sometimes doing something different like that will get some people, especially guys who haven’t done it before, excited,” Smith said. “Hopefully we’ll be packed in one car, hanging out and relaxing. I’m sure there will be a couple of card games going on. I think it will be pretty cool.”